Pooches: Red Door Walk

To keep the dogs socialized, we love taking them on all kinds of adventures around the city. Yesterday we took the pooches to participate in the Red Door Animal Shelter's fundraising walk for the animals.
This is basically a dog walk, with over a hundred of your "closest friends" that winds its way through the the northside neighborhood and Indian Boundary Park. The rescue is a bit unique in that it also adopts rabbits, chickens, and ducks. This year they are celebrating 10 years of adoptions.We have done this walk the last couple of years; we really like how family friendly it is, and how we get to tour this northside neighborhood. The walk takes place north of Devon in a neighborhood filled with quaint bungalows and sprawling flower gardens:
My favorite part is that we finish at Indian Boundary Park: an enormous park complete with lake, playground, and "zoo". They have a couple of exhibits with barnyard animals. We were marveling at how much Miss M reminded us of the goats. I think she even thought so as she was barking (something she rarely does) and trying to meet them. I wonder if we did a DNA test if it would come out small percentage "goat".
I think a lot of people who hold negative stereotypes about pitbulls have never actually met one, so we also like to use these types of dog events to show people how well-socialized, intelligent, and charismatic pitties can be. Our pooches walked nicely among the multitude of retractable leashes, random barking, and dogs invading their space. Here we are taking a break from the crowd and listening for instructions:They remembered to sit nicely at cornersAnd every so often we gave them a trick command to impress any onlookers. Here is Miss M with her signature wave:
And Mr B's signature trick of just looking cute:
We loved meeting other dogs. Here is Mr. B meeting another pittie:And this pooch who reminded us so much of a young Miss M. with similar stance, chin, and facial expression. His owner even said she was a boxer-pit.
And we were super-excited to meet our fellow Chicagoan dog Pip. Pip is a Red Door Shelter alum and has been working out to prepare for the walk. Though it is a long walk for such a little dog, Pip made a great showing pushing through the final leg.

Chicagoing: Paying a Premium

YEEEAAAAHHHH BLACKHAWKS!!! We pay quite a premium to live in this great city of Chicago. So it's a shame not to take advantage of all the great things this city has to offer. The funny thing is that during the winter we look forward to all the fun things that happen during the spring and summer months, but when the spring and summer months come we become lazy and let all these great things pass us by. We vowed to not let that happen again this summer. Since we have to walk the pooches, we are kind of forced to go out and enjoy the reason why we pay so much to live in the city. So this past Sunday, we ventured out to the farmer's market at Wicker Park to pick up some cheese and flowers.It was such a beautiful morning for the first day of Wicker Park Farmer's Market.
Afterward, we headed off to our first street festival of this spring/summer, the Do Division Street Fest.
Everyone was out with their pooches to enjoy the weather and check out the sites.
Since it was still early out, we were able to enjoy the street fest without it being too crowded. Plus there were ample spots to sit and enjoy the music.The pooches got some complimentary ice cream from Your Best Friend Pet Supply on Division Ave.
The ice cream was made in shop by the owner, who was a really nice and knowledgeable guy. Ms. M went to town on both hers and Mr. B's ice cream. What a great way to start off our summer, paying the premium to live in this great city is well worth it.

PSA: Natura Pet Products Formula Downgrade

Growing up with our family's dogs, I never knew about their intricate eating habits. It was only after becoming an adult, and adopting my own dogs, that I became privy to how dogs should eat.
One thing I never knew, and I still don't know how people learned this, is that dogs can be sensitive to changes in kibble ingredients and brands. You have to actually mix the new food with their old food until they become accustomed to the new food.
I don't know how I know this, because I definitely didn't know it when I first got Miss M. At the time I decided to try an expensive higher protein formula only to have her throw it all up while I questioned what terrible--non-food related--disease she could potentially have; I didn't realize it was due to the new food.Which leads us to our new quandary: we just found out Natura Pet Products has been bought out by Procter & Gamble. These include the California Natural brand we use along with Innova, Evo, Healthwise, and Karma. Last weekend as we forged through a downpour, and a street festival, just to pick up the food at the dog store, the owners informed us about the buyout, and the fact things may be turning quickly as much of the natural ingredient and dietary information has already been removed from their website. Our pet store has decided not to carry the brand anymore as P&G will likely sell a cheapened, less wholesome formula under the same name; not to mention how they are barely a pet-friendly company as they do all types of absurd animal testing.
We have about a month's time to ween them off the California Natural and onto the new formula. We haven't researched much, but we're considering Fromms. Does anyone have experience with Fromms, or use another type of dry food that they would recommend?

Pooches: Daily Walk in 10 Pictures 06.09.10

Ms. M is mean muggin for the camera. She wants everyone to know that she is not one of those dogs that say they are from Chicago but really grew up in the suburbs. Again, acting tough by trying to tear apart this "tiny stick" as she puts it.Gave up and went for the smaller parts of this tiny stick.
As her favorite group, NKOTB, would sing, she is hanging tough with her stick and funky song.With her stick, Ms. M watches us and makes sure we get her her money.Back on the streets with Mr. B leading the way. Don't know if he knows where we are going or if he is attracted to the smell of urine under the El tracks.
Ms. M representing in front of Saint Alfred.
While A was getting flowers and cheese from the farmer's market, the pooches were trying to find shade under the park bench.
Mr. B resting under the park bench, while we sat and ate cheese and watched a young guy for over an hour move from bench to bench, striking up a conversation with every and any girl and striking out. Poor guy just needs a dog. During that time, the pooches struck up a conversation with over a dozen people.
On our way home to get ready for the Hawks game, go Blackhawks!

Pooches: Dogs in Bars & Miss M's Drinking Problem

Though we live in a huge city, I'm not privy to any bars that accept dogs. Sure, dogs can join us at the outdoor cafes, but I always envied the Bad Mutha Fudruckers crew whose two pitbulls are regulars at a neighborhood bar.
Last weekend we attended another fundraiser for Project Rescue. Right after their adoption event, they "took over" a local bar where their volunteers worked as bartenders with all tips going straight to the dogs. Since we love supporting dog rescues doing things we would do anyway, we stopped by for a few drinks, making sure to tip big. The best part was the pooches were allowed in the bars. Given Miss M's drinking problem, we usually don't have her around alcohol. This time it wasn't the alcohol that was the problem, but Miss M just really, really wanted to meet people and have them pet her.
Like a true 'girl of the bar', Miss M strategically positioned herself in front of the Men's Restroom; that way she could make contact with guys as they were entering and leaving the restroom. Plus, the ones waiting in line would be forced to pet her for an extended period of time. Here she is cruising for guys:Miss M quickly learned it would be even better to position herself right by the front door. This way she could check out everyone coming in, and greet them appropriately. Here she is edging in on some conversations of people she just met:
Meanwhile, Mr. B acted at home in the bar like a true Chicago guy. Even though this other dog was barking at him, he still remained calm listening to sports on the TV:
And like the true class act she is, Miss M eventually passed out in the middle of the floor. Her head was literally centimeters from this guy's heel, and people were stepping over her. And all she drank was water.

Pooches: Mr. B's "Big Man Syndrome"

Looking at how huge Mr. B is, you would assume he knows he is a huge, menacing-looking dog capable of inducing fear. Every inch of him is muscle. He has a neck the size of my waist, huge biceps:And defined buttocks:Despite being enormous, Mr. B is actually terrified of small dogs. We pass this dog each day on our daily walk; it is his biggest nemesis. It barks and lunges at him from behind the glass, and he gets really scared:I guess it's just a human convention that size has meaning. Dogs just see other dogs, and they don't even think about their own size when they interact. This would explain why so many small dogs bark at Mr. B. I think dog owners should also consider this, and instead of thinking it's cute and hilarious that their dog is barking at a big pitbull, they should think how offended they would be if I let Mr. B bark and lunge at their dog.

Pooches: Daily Walk in 10 Pictures

Since it was a busy weekend, we were unable to go on our very long family walk, but here are pictures from our walk on Memorial Day. Here is Mr. B scanning the scenery for any potential playmates.
Though it has been cooler than in the past few days, it was still hot for the pooches. Here is Ms. M smiling for the camera after we walked down to the end of our street.
As we were walking by this van, I noticed our reflection.
We when got to the park, the pooches were focused on smelling every inch of the park. Here is Ms. M bracing herself to catch the last couple sniffs.At the park, Mr. B loves to kick up grass or dirt whenever he finishes using the bathroom.Ms. M watches longingly as three pooches play in the middle of the park. We are back on the mean streets of Chicago, with gates up everywhere since most stores were closed for Memorial Day.
Even the check cashing place was closed today.
I guess partying got out of hand this weekend, here is Ms. M sniffing the remnants of beer that was spilled in front of this storefront. Go Blackhawks!